This is a conjure hand for coercive love that was related to me by a 50-55 year old woman customer in a candle store on Maxwell Street in Chicago in 1965:

She said, "If you want a man to love you and he absolutely refuses, you can goofer him to love you -- you know, make him *sick* to love you." Here is her recipe.

You will need:

his hair

your hair

a small John the Conqueror root

Goofer Dust (or Graveyard Dirt)

Love Me sachet powder

a piece of brown paper (torn on all four sides from a paper bag)

a waterproof ink pen that writes red

a waterproof ink pen that writes black

a brand new spool of red sewing thread

a red flannel bag

a sharp pen knife

On the paper, write his full name 7 times in black ink, then rotate the paper and write LOVE ME OR DIE over his name 7 times in red ink, crossing it and covering it. Set the paper aside.

Use the pen knife to carve a slit-shaped hole in the root and wedge your hair and his hair in there together. Then pack the slit tight with a mixture of Goofer Dust and Love Me sachet powder. Thoroughly wet the written-on paper with your urine and wrap it around the root, pressing and forming it as you would papier mache, to keep the hairs and powders inside. While it is still wet, wrap it up in the red thread, going round and around very neatly, like a ball of twine, until the paper is entirely covered. When you are done, tie the thread off with seven knots and leave a length of thread to hang it from. You can double or triple the hanging-thread for strength, and finish it with a loop for your finger.

Carry the prepared root in a red flannel bag and moisten it with your urine when needed. Hold it by its hanging-thread to "operate" it, swinging it back and forth or round and around toward you as you call the man's name, to draw him to you. Get a rhythm going, and say his name, like this, over and over: "[First Name, Last Name], love me or die; [First Name, Last Name], love me or die; [First Name, Last Name], love me or die."

"You do this," the woman told me, "and the man will either love you or he'll get real sick. If he gets sick, don't let up; just keep your urine wet on that thing, just keep working with it. That's the way you get him, you weaken him. When he is about finished, you can nurse him back to health. Then he's all yours."

I have never tried such coercive love spells myself. I am too tender-hearted and also have had too many offers of love from willing men to bother to mess with men who were recalcitrant. I recommend that anyone who undertakes making such a "Love Me or Die" hand should be prepared to properly dispose of it if it is successful, or you may always have a sickly man on your hands.

The making of this love spell is an exercise in working with pairs of opposites: The Love powder is mixed with Goofer Dust. The John root is male (looks like a testicle) and you cut a slit-like hole (a symbolic "pussy") in it to make him less strong and masculine, what they call "pussy whipped". You mix your hair and his hair up together, so he will be as obsessed as you are. You offer him the choice "Love me or die." When he gets sick, you nurse him back to health. The whole thing is about mixing opposing pairs -- male/female, love/death, sickness/health, him/you -- into one mess.

By the way, the specific shape of this mojo hand -- a round object wound around with thread or string -- is sometimes referred to as a Jack or Jack ball, although my informant did not call it by that name. Most Jacks, hung from their strings, are used for divination, like pendulums, but some are carried in the pocket or in a bag, as a hand.

The name Jack ball probably originally referred to the little rubber balls used for playing the children's game of Jacks, which used to be made of wound-up red rubber strings. Not all Jacks have a John the Conqueror root at their center, but since Jack is the diminutive form of John, if any Jack has a right to that name, this one does.